Imamah (Arabic: إمامة) is the Shia doctrine of religious, spiritual and political leadership of the Ummah. The Shīa believe that the A'immah ("Imams") are the true Caliphs or rightful successors of Muḥammad, and further that Imams are possessed of divine knowledge and authority (‘Iṣmah) as well as being part of the Ahl al-Bayt, the family of Prophet Muhammad.[1] These Imams have the role of providing commentary and interpretation of the Qu'ran[2] as well as guidance to their tariqah followers as is the case of the living Imams of the Nizari Ismaili tariqah.

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The word imam denotes the one who stands or walks in front. He is the guide. It is commonly used to mean the person who 'guides' the course of prayer in the mosque; in many cases it means the head of a school. From the Shi'i point of view, this is merely a metaphorical usage of the word. Properly and strictly speaking, the term is applicable only to those members of the House of the Prophet (ahl al-bayt) designated as the infallible.

The Shī‘ah further believe only these A'immah have the right to be Caliphs, meaning that all other caliphs, whether elected by consensus Ijma or not, are usurpers of the Caliphate.

Muslims believe that Prophet Muhammad had said: To whomsoever I am Mawla, ‘Alī is his Mawla'. This hadith has been narrated in different ways by many different sources in no less than 45 hadith books. This hadith was narrated by al-Tirmidhi, 3713; Ibn Maajah, 121. There is no doubt about its authenticity because of the many different sources of its narration. The major point of conflict is the definition of the word Mawla. In Shia belief, the word means appointed successor of the prophet as supported by a huge number of Qu'ranic verses and ahadeeth narrated from the Prophet. The Sunnis believe the word simply means beloved or the revered one.

Following the same principle is the Shī‘ah practice that asserts that ‘Alī is the first Imām to teach the correct interpretation of Islam, the successor of Muḥammad. The definition of Mawla in the context of the above narration is disputed between Sunnis and the Shī‘ah.

Within Shia Islam (Shi'ism), the various sects came into being because they differed over their Imams' successions just as the Shia - Sunni separation within Islam itself had come into being from the dispute that had arisen over the succession to Prophet Mohammad. Each succession dispute brought forth a different tariqah (literal meaning 'path'; extended meaning 'sect') within Shia Islam. Each Shia tariqah followed its own particular Imam's dynasty thus resulting in different numbers of Imams for each particular Shia tariqah. When the dynastic line of the separating successor Imam ended with no heir to succeed him then either he (the last Imam) or his unborn successor was believed to have gone into concealment, that is, The Occultation.

The Shia tariqah with a majority of adherents are the Twelvers who are commonly known as the "Shia". After that come the Nizari Ismailis commonly known as the "Ismailis"; and then come the Mustalian Ismailis commonly known as the "Bohras" with further schisms within their Bohri tariqah. The Druze tariqah (very small in number today) initially were of the Fatimid Ismailis and separated from them (the Fatimid Ismailis) after the death of the Fatimid Imam and Caliph Hakim Bi Amrillah. The Shia Sevener tariqah no longer exists. Another small tariqah is the Shia Zaidi also known as the Fivers and who do not believe in The Occultation of their last Imam.

Although all these different Shia tariqahs belong to the Shia group (as opposed to the Sunni group) in Islam, there are major doctrinal differences between the main Shia tariqahs. After that there is the complete doctrinal break between all the different Shia tariqahs whose last Imams have gone into Occultation and the Shia Nizari Ismailis who deny the very concept of Occultation. The Shia Nizari Ismailis by definition have to have a present and living Imam until the end of time. Thus if any living Nizari Ismaili Imam fails to leave behind a successor after him then the Nizari Ismailism’s cardinal principle would be broken and it’s very raison d'être would come to an end.

During the Minor Occultation (Ghaybat al-Sughra), it is believed that al-Mahdi maintained contact with his followers via deputies (Arab.an-nuwāb al-arbaʻa literal: the four leaders). They represented him and acted as agents between him and his followers.

Whenever the believers faced a problem, they would write their concerns and send them to his deputy. The deputy would ascertain his verdict, endorse it with his seal and signature and return it to the relevant parties. The deputies also collected zakat and khums on his behalf. For the Shia, the idea of consulting a hidden Imam was not something new because the two prior Shia Imams had, on occasion, met with their followers from behind a curtain. Also, during the oppressive rule of the later Abbasid caliphs, the Shia Imams were heavily persecuted and held prisoners, thus their followers were forced to consult their Imams via messengers or secretly.

Shia Tradition hold that four deputies acted in succession to one another:

According to the last letter of al-Mahdi to Ali ibn Muhammad al-Samarri "from the day of your death [the last deputy] the period of my major occultation (al ghaybatul kubra) will begin. Henceforth no one will see me unless and until Allah makes me appear." Another view is that the Hidden Imam is on earth "among the body of the Shia" but "incognito." "Numerous stories" exist of the Hidden Imam "manifesting himself to prominent members of the ulama."[3]

According to the majority of Shī'a, namely the Twelvers (Ithnā'ashariyya), the following is a listing of the rightful successors to Muḥammad. Each Imam was the son of the previous Imam except for Hussayn ibn 'Alī, who was the brother of Hassan ibn 'Alī. The belief in this succession to Muḥammad stems from various Qu'ranic ayaths which include: 75:36, 13:7, 35:24, 2:30, 2:124, 36:26, 7:142, 42:23. They support their discussion by putting facts from Genesis 17:19–20 and sunni hadeeth: Sahih Muslim, Hadith number 4478, English translation by Abdul Hamid Siddiqui.[4]

He was the eldest surviving grandson of Muḥammad through Muḥammad's daughter, Fatimah Zahra. Hasan succeeded his father as the caliph in Kufa, and on the basis of peace treaty with Muawiya I, he relinquished control of Iraq following a reign of seven months.[13]

Leader of the Shia community during the schism of Ismaili and other branches after the death of the former Imam, Jafar al-Sadiq.[26] He established the network of agents who collected khums in the Shia community of the Middle East and the Greater Khorasan.[27]

He was poisoned near Sanabad village near Tous town (in modern Mashhad-al-Reza city of Iran which was established because of his burial there). His poisoning was on the order of Caliph Al-Ma'mun. The event is authentic. He was buried in the Imam Reza shrine in Mashhad.[28]

For most of his life, the Abbasid Caliph, Al-Mu'tamid, placed restrictions on him after the death of his father. Repression of the Shi'ite population was particularly high at the time due to their large size and growing power.[33]

The Ismailis differ greatly from the Twelvers because of having a living imam for centuries after the last Twelver imam went into concealment. They followed Ismail bin Jafar, elder brother of Musa al-Kazim, as the rightful Imam [37] after his father Jafar al-Sadiq. The Ismailis believe that whether Imam Ismail did or did not die before Imam Jafar al-Sadiq, he had passed on the mantle of the Imamat to his son Muḥammad bin Ismail as the next Imam. Thus, their line of Imams is as follows (the years of their individual Imamats during the Common Era are given in brackets):

Ali ibn Abi Talib (632–661) - the Mustali sect of Ismailis consider the first Imam Ali to be at a higher designation than their other Imams i.e. he was the Asas (the 'Foundation').

Hasan ibn Ali (661–669) - the Nizari sect of Ismailis do not consider Imam Hasan as a true Imam but a Pir (the 'enlightened').

The Ismaili line of Imams for both sects (The Nizari and the Mustali)continues undivided until Mustansir Billah (d. 1094). After his death the line of the Imamat separates into the Nizari and Mustali dynasties.

The line of Imams of the Mustali Ismaili Shia Muslims (also known as the Bohras/Dawoodi Bohra) continued up to Aamir ibn Mustali. After his death they believe their 21st Imam Taiyab abi al-Qasim went into a Dawr-e-Satr (period of concealment) that continues to this day. In the absence of an Imam they are led by a Dai-al-Mutlaq (absolute missionary) who manages the affairs of the Imam-in-Concealment until re-emergence of the Imam from concealment. Dawoodi Bohra's present 52nd Dai is Syedna Mohammad Burhanuddin.

The line of Imams of the Nizari Ismaili Shia Muslims (also known as the Agakhani Ismailis in South and Central Asia) continues to their present living 49th hereditary Imam, His Highness Prince Karim Aga Khan IV. They are the only Shia Muslim community today led by a present and living (Hazir wa Mawjud) Imam. See http://www.akdn.org

Zaidiyya, Zaidism or Zaydism (Arabic: الزيدية az-zaydiyya, adjective form Zaidi or Zaydi) is a Shī‘ahmaðhab (sect, school) named after the ImāmZayd ibn ʻAlī. Followers of the Zaidi fiqh are called Zaidis (or are occasionally called Fivers in the West). However, there is also a group called the Zaidi Wasītīs who are Twelvers.

^The Imam's Arabic titles are used by the majority of Twelver Shī‘ah who use Arabic as a liturgical language, including the Usooli, Akhbari, Shaykhi, and to a lesser extent Alawi. Turkish titles are generally used by Alevi, a fringe Twelver group, who make up around 10% of the world Shī‘ah population. The titles for each Imam literally translate as "First ‘Alī", "Second ‘Alī", and so forth. Encyclopedia of the Modern Middle East and North Africa. Gale Group. 2004. ISBN978-0-02-865769-1.

Corbin, Henry (1993). History of Islamic Philosophy, translated by Liadain Sherrard and Philip Sherrard. Kegan Paul International in association with Islamic Publications for The Institute of Ismaili Studies. ISBN0-7103-0416-1.